Amdo Lullaby: An Ethnography of Childhood and Language Shift on the Tibetan Plateau

Amdo Lullaby explores the language socialization of children in a region of eastern Tibet incorporated into mainland China, highlighting the impact of state development policies on rural to urban migration and schooling. It reveals that children are not passively abandoning their mother tongue for standard Mandarin but are reformatting traditional Amdo Tibetan cultural associations among language, place, and kinship as they build their peer relationships in everyday play.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 278 pages
Publication date: 11 November 2024
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Amdo, a region of eastern Tibet incorporated into mainland China, is experiencing significant social change. In the early 21st century, Chinese state development policies have led to rural-to-urban migration, consolidation of schooling in urban centers, and the abandonment of traditional livelihoods by Tibetan farmers and nomads. As a result, children in Amdo are facing increasing pressure to adopt Mandarin, the official language of the state. "Amdo Lullaby" explores the contrasting language socialization trajectories of rural and urban children from one extended family, who are native speakers of a Tibetan language known locally as Farmer Talk. Linguistic anthropologist Shannon M. Ward examines the forms of migration and resulting language contact that contribute to Farmer Talks unique grammatical structures and shape Amdo Tibetan children's language choices. Through a fine-grained analysis of everyday conversations and oral history interviews, Ward reveals that young children are not passively abandoning their mother tongue for standard Mandarin but are reformatting traditional Amdo Tibetan cultural associations among language, place, and kinship as they build their peer relationships in everyday play. This analysis highlights the complex and dynamic nature of language socialization in a changing world and the importance of understanding the role of language in shaping children's identities and experiences.

Weight: 414g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781487558673